Laundry!

Meet my new laundry system.


This is Micah’s Grandmother’s old wringer washer.
Why a wringer washer, you may ask. You may also ask if I’ve totally lost it. I have not. There is a reason. There is some issue in the spring house that results in water flow issues in the house. So a regular washer besides lacking proper hookups would drain the cistern. (Hooking up the furnace took priority this fall over the ability for 5 people to take baths in a row or run a load of wash.)

Since the Laundromat it Knox is ridiculously expensive I started visiting family with my laundry basket. Angie and Karen should both get medals for patience.

In the meantime, I looked online and figured that a wringer washer could be a solution since you manually fill it (I use the green garden hose in the picture) and by some estimates it uses 3 times less water. So I started searching on Craigslist for one that worked and I could afford.

But all along there was Grandma’s machine sitting in the barn! Micah found it. We hauled it to the house, and I cleaned it up. This may have been sometime in October. We found out the motor for the agitator and wringer worked but it didn’t drain. (it has a gravity drain, the black hose in the photo) So I fiddled in the drain and pulled out some rocks and a penny. Unfortunately at this point it started leaking. Profusely. Oh, Irony. Lucky me, Micah fixed that too and we got it all set up this last week.

I have now done laundry in my own house for the first time since we came back. Take heart friends and family I will no longer arrive at your house with my laundry basket!!

I’ve only gotten my fingers caught in the wringers once. It’s all part of the adventure.

Playing with Knives!!!

Christmas 2009 my sister got KNIVES. Like lots of knives like multiple sets and sets of knives from everyone she knew. She gave me one of her spare sets and that is what led to this post. (She also got multiple waffle irons, but she did not give me one of those so I have no reason to blog about that.)

Before I got these knives, my knives were a motley assortment of knives from thrift stores and my parents house. Seriously I had knives that were wedding presents to my parents, knives older than me. Our friend Ben, when cooking in our apartment (usually upon the loss of a bet or for a holiday), was known to bring his own knives. (snot)

This post is also about peeling apples. I have always used a veggie peeler when peeling apples. But for awhile when we first came back from Slovakia my veggie peeler was packed in the depths of unknown boxes and I was forced to try my hand at peeling apples with a paring knife.

One of my best memories with my Grandma involves sitting on the porch swing while she peels apples with a paring knife in one long string. I did not inherit that talent. In fact, I failed miserably but without drawing blood (a small miracle) and put more effort into locating my veggie peeler.

This is where my new knives come in. I have found my peeler and now use it regularly, but the thought was bothering me, what if the problem was the knives? I could be missing out on creating porch swing and long skinny perfect apple peel memories. So When I was cutting up the apple for the chicken and veggies, I tried peeling it with a knife.

Ok knives plural, one must be thorough.

I did not try with the big knife. That was there to cut the other veggies and the apple if I ever got it peeled.
I did try with the steak knife because it was already out. No go.
I tried with the straight paring knife. Still no go.
I even tried with the weird curved paring knife that looks vaguely Klingon. Worst yet.

SO having established that I am the problem and not the equipment, I peeled what was left of the apple with my veggie peeler. And then I ate the peels - another part of my best grandma memories which was made even better by the fact that the part peeled with the knives had LOTS of apple still attached. ☺

Cast Iron Dutch Ovens

I will never be a food blogger, let’s just start there.

My sister inspired this post. She’s blogging her adventures in cooking a real meal for her husband every night this week following Simplifried’s menu plans. So, because it sounded soo good, when she blogged it and out of a bit of sibling snottiness I pulled out the cast iron dutch oven, (one of two in this house only one of which is actually mine) and made chicken and veggies for dinner last night. It was good.

And I took pictures.

Pictures of veggies cut up in the cast iron dutch oven: potatoes, carrots, zucchini {are you out of your mind!?}, onion and an apple for good measure.

Pictures of seasonings under the skins of my chicken thighs

A picture of my spices all lined up with my cast iron dutch oven.

Pictures of my chicken thighs in the cast iron dutch oven

A picture of the pom poms on the table cloth, How cool is that!!??

A picture of the cast iron dutch oven in the oven.

And because I am a snot, and teasing siblings is the oldest’s prerogative, I took a picture of the rest of my cast iron pots and pans (minus the dutch ovens - one of which was in the oven and the other which is on display in the big fireplace in the other part of the house.)


And To further my point about not being a food blogger, there are no pictures of the final product.

*I learn something every time I blog. Prerogative: ORIGIN late Middle English : via Old French from Latin praerogativa ‘(the verdict of) the political division that was chosen to vote first in the assembly,’ feminine (used as noun) of praerogativus ‘asked first,’ from prae ‘before’ + rogare ‘ask.’
But still what’s with the silent R at the beginning? It’s not how I say it.

Yay! you found me!

Oh, Hi!

So instead of blogging something real today I changed my site address and posted almost identical things two places. does that count as two posts or none?

First, I just changed my site name, it just didn't fit my life anymore. Anastasia's Adventures has a nice ring to it doesn't it? Less princess, more me and still an adventure.

But then, I was still left with the wbsercessa address....which is a bit of a pain to spell, type and explain. So the logical thing was to change my address too.

So welcome to Stasigh.blogspot.com.

Same me, new place.

Go ahead and update your bookmarks, I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. At least not on the internet. In real life, well you just never know, that's why it's an adventure!

Seeing spots

Look, what i found left open in a browser tab..... A horribly misguided makeover attempt.

Spots seemed to be the consensus so despite my best intentions, i did not leave my layout alone. I fiddled some more....

Too Big, Too bright:


Too Random:

Too Subtle:

Hopefully I found just right and will really leave it alone for awhile.

Also, have you SEEN the price of grapes recently!!!

New look in 2011

OOOKAY! Anyone compulsively checking my blog over the last 24 hours saw (quite) a few different layouts. If i had been thinking i'd have done screen captures as I went. but the process is lost forever.

I'm still not keen on the blurry flourishes,I can'tget them sharper without pixelation. But I really like how solid they are and cant find any crisper ones that make me happy. so they stay.

I cant decide if I like the plain grey background. maybe some pink dots are in order? Someday.

For now, I'm leaving it as is.

Weather World

I love weather world on WPSU.
They have color color coded radar.
Also, the guy says things like "The uppper air coming down seems to have a bit more moxy" to it.

and lest you think they have just the one quirky announcer here the actual printed on the screen forecast for Tuesday night was "a breeze and a freeze" with "areas of clouds and starshine" in north western PA.
Today is just a "benign winter day" (Micah would like to know what that even means)

The real thing that caught my eye though was this dire prediction for Thursday. As a public service announcement, I just need to warn you about tomorrow:Don't let it sneak up on you.....

Easily Amused.

OK so in 2011 I might actually blog.

I feel like i should apologize for starting my new blogging year with such an annoying post.

So I'm sorry. I know animated GIFs are so last decade. But like my mother I am a late adopter. Fortunately for you all, I also have a short attention span and am highly distractable (besides, this only barely broke even in the work to create vs. enjoyment of final product ratio).







Also in 2011 I am going to hand my camera to others to take pictures of me more often.


There is no Micah because things that spin make him puke. Jimmy was at the store. There is a series of photos of Mark spinning Ami, but i forgot and animated the one without him. Plus he appears in mine and I'm not doing another because like i said, low enjoyment to work ratio.

Animated only has one N.

Happy New Year!

If you right click on these you may be able to make them stop depending on your browser
(if you are using internet explorer, now is the time to switch. Firefox is good, I like omniweb.)